I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love - Chapter 35
Am I the only one flustered here? Gerard didn’t seem to find anything strange at all, he just looked closely at my face.
Maybe that was only natural.
Nobles weren’t the kind to watch a commoner’s reactions before acting, and right now I wasn’t someone Gerard had feelings for.
I knew all that, but why was my heart pounding so shamelessly.
Before the heat could rise to my cheeks, I lowered my head to hide the emotions seeping in.
At some point, the hand gripping the handkerchief had turned red. I pulled down my sleeve with my fingertips, then pushed lightly against Gerard’s chest with my arm.
“…It just means I was that startled.”
Gerard obediently stepped back.
“Are you really that scared of bugs?”
“They show up especially often on rainy days, but no matter how many times I see them, I never get used to it.”
The risotto stains on my clothes bothered me, so I took a change of clothes from the wardrobe and headed toward the bathroom. I grabbed the doorknob, but the sound of footsteps following me made me turn around after all.
“You really threw it away properly, right?”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“I closed the window quickly because I was worried it might fly back in, so I didn’t check properly.”
“……”
“Don’t worry too much. I’m sure I threw it out properly.”
Gerard pulled up the corner of his mouth in a smile and opened the bathroom door for me himself.
He looked down at my frozen face and jerked his chin.
“At this rate the sun will come up. Hurry and change.”
Pushed into the bathroom, I stood there blankly for a while. I didn’t even know how I managed to change my clothes.
When I returned to the room, Gerard’s bedding had already been laid out.
He had been sitting on the bed, and when he saw me, he stood up.
“You cried again?”
“Do you think I cry every time I hear the word bug?”
“You do.”
“I’m turning the light off.”
I didn’t even have the energy to answer, so I turned my back on him, pretending not to notice as he approached.
When the light went out, a faint glow filtered in through the window and dimly lit the room.
Even after I sat on the bed, his large dark figure remained standing in the middle of the room. The already small space felt even more cramped.
“…Do you want to sleep on the bed?”
“Together?”
“No. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
When I refused firmly, Gerard gave a small smile as if he had expected it and returned to his spot.
The sound of steady rain cut through the darkness. Using the rain as a lullaby, I forced my eyes shut.
Rustle.
At the ominous sound, my eyes snapped open.
I couldn’t tell whether it was my imagination or if something was really crawling somewhere.
“Why. Are you scared there might be more bugs?”
At some point, Gerard had stood up again and was leaning an arm against my bed as he asked.
…Can a first-rank Awakened even hear the sound of someone opening and closing their eyes?
“Don’t worry about me. Just sleep.”
I said quietly, then turned toward the wall.
“If you’re worried, should I stand watch?”
“……”
“A first-rank Awakened should be used for catching bugs, when else would you use one.”
“……”
“What would you have done without me.”
Gerard kept talking behind me, as if he weren’t tired at all.
If I answered even once or twice, it felt like I really wouldn’t sleep until sunrise, so I gritted my teeth and ignored him.
But strangely enough, as I listened to his voice, my eyelids gradually began to grow heavy.
It was strange. Even though his presence still burdened me, why did that familiar sense of comfort return?
I knew I shouldn’t, that I had no right to feel this way toward him, yet my mind was becoming uncontrollably at ease.
* * *
Gerard Castion had been called the Awakened who would carry the Empire since he was a very young boy.
I met him when I was thirteen.
At the time, I was a trainee apprentice, and after a battle ended, I was dispatched to a village to help evacuate the wounded.
